


Ten times Arthur discovered Merlin's magic

by KandySaur



Series: Random Merlin Stuff [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 19:10:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KandySaur/pseuds/KandySaur
Summary: What the title says





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just before you start - I did take a lot of insperation from different works I've read in the past, but none too recently so unfortunately I can't give you any titles or names, but if you recognise any parts that i may have borrowed or basic ideas, drop a comment of the work that you found them in and if i spot any of the ones i read in the past i will update this section with the names and auther so the works - thanks!

Merlin and Arthur had been out hunting, tho the reason Arthur had brought Merlin was  
a mystery to him. He was so loud and clumsy he scared half the animals away, but  
despite this, they had still managed to catch two rabbits, a couple of pheasants,  
and a small deer.  
They were now walking back to Camelot because they had decided not to go on horse  
back, and because it would soon be getting dark, and it was better that they were  
not out too late.  
Suddenly, Arthur and Merlin were surrounded by men. They were all strong and large,  
and there were at least 30 of them. They froze, not knowing what to do.  
Instinctively, Arthur’s hand flew to the sword in his belt, but he knew there were  
too many to fight, even for him.  
“Well well well, what have we here?” Goaded one of the men.  
Merlin leaned in to whisper something to Arthur. “Arthur?”  
“Not now, Merlin.” Hissed Arthur - could Merlin really not tell there lives were in  
danger?  
“Arthur!” Hissed Merlin back, more urgent this time. This made Arthur pay attention.  
“What?”  
“Do you trust me?”  
“No”  
“Well if you want to survive, when I say now, drop to crouch.”  
“What? - Merlin - what are you goi-“ but he was cut off by one of the thugs.  
“Ok! You two, stop talking”  
“Arthur...” Merlin said a note of urgency in his voice that Arthur could not ignore.  
“Fine but I don-“  
“Right, if you two want to survive the next five minutes, you will shut up”  
“Now!” Yelled Merlin, and Arthur, unsure why he was obeying, dropped to crouch and  
looked up to see Merlin speaking words in a strange tongue, then his eyes flashed a  
brilliant gold and he saw the thugs fall to the ground, either knocked out or dead.  
Magic! Every cell in his body was screaming at him to run, or to pull out his sword  
and run through the sorcerer. But he couldn’t - it was Merlin - clumsy, brave,  
loyal, idiotic Merlin.  
Merlin held out his hand to pull Arthur from the ground, but to his disappointment,  
not necessarily surprise, but disappointment, Arthur shrank back from the friendly  
gesture.  
“Sorcerer” he stuttered “your a sorcerer!”  
“Well done for stating the obvious, genius, now let’s go before they wake up - I’ll  
explain when we’re back in Camelot.”  
Cautiously, he stood up, choosing to ignore the hand Merlin held out to him, anger  
pulsing through this veins.  
Anger. That was how Arthur hid fear and vulnerability: behind a shield of anger.


	2. 2

Merlin was sitting on the small wooden bench in the stables, polishing Arthur’s  
boots, something he seemed to do at least twice a day. A small tear ran down his  
cheek. He was so sick of hiding who he was, saving Arthur’s life time and time  
again, and never getting any credit, and he was so infuriated that once again Arthur  
had failed to thank him for doing all his chores. He was so sick of being Arthur’s  
manservant that he let out a frustrated howl, tears now pouring from his eyes.  
Arthur herd the shout and went to investigate, hand on sword hilt - just in case.  
But when he entered the stables all he saw was his manservant with his back to the  
door silently polishing his boots.  
“Merlin? Was that you who shouted?”  
Merlin, seeing no reason to deny it nodded, but didn’t speak.  
“Are you ok? Is something upsetting you?”  
Was Arthur really asking him about his feelings? - maybe he was not all that  
heartless after all, Merlin nodded again, carefully keeping his face hidden, he  
didn’t want Arthur to see that he had been crying.  
“Merlin... what’s up? You know you can tell me anything...”  
“I-It’s nothing - you’d hate me...”  
“Merlin, I could never hate you, you should know that...”  
“You have a f-funny way of showing it”  
Arthur came and sat down on the wooden bench next to him. “Come on. Out with it.  
Whats bothering you?”  
“You’d cut off my head”  
“It can’t be that bad - can it? Tell me, I promise, I won’t hurt you, Merlin”  
“I-I have - I have - never mind”  
“What is it, Merlin,What do you have?” Arthur was genuinely worried about Merlin at  
this point - he had never seen Merlin fall apart like this before.  
“I-I have” Merlin took a deep breath as if preparing himself for the king wrath  
“magic.” He said defiantly, though daring Arthur to challenge him. “I have magic”  
Arthur burst out laughing. “You? Magic? - yeah right, and I’m a donkey”  
Merlin looked upset - his friend didn’t believe him. “It’s not a joke, sire” he said  
a bit more confidently than he felt. Then just to prove his point, he held out his  
hand and called the bucket of water over from the other side of the room with just a  
flick of his wrist.  
“Oh”


	3. 3

Arthur had jut come back from a hunt with Sir Lancelot and Sir Gwain, when he was  
just five from the castle he had seen Merlin heading into the forest alone, so  
Arthur had quickly told the knights to go on ahead, before turning round to see what  
Merlin thought he was doing - it was dangerous to be out at this time of day, even  
for the most skilled of knights, let alone a clumsy servant boy.  
As Arthur approached he saw that Merlin did not look in the least bit afraid, if  
anything, he was more confident than he normally was. Yet he also had the air of a  
man who had seen too much of the world. Far too much. Arthur decided to just follow  
him, and see where his idiot manservant was going.  
Arthur stayed a good twenty meters behind Merlin, so he would not be seen, and after  
half an hour of riding, Merlin was showing no signs of slowing, so he carefully  
stopped his horse, before demounting and tying the horse to a small tree, his  
reasoning being that it would be easier to keep hidden if he were not riding a large  
noisy horse.  
After another hour and a half of walking they were well outside of the patrol radius  
of the knights, yet Arthur was still intrigued by his manservants uncharacteristic  
boldness, and calmness in the forest, where there could be bandits and smugglers and  
thugs, all willing to take advantage of the young boy alone in the woods.  
After a short distance, they reached a clearing by a setream, where Merlin just  
stood. Then he sat down on a fallen tree, looking, Arthur realised, quite depressed,  
like he was carrying the weight of a thousand people on his own two shoulders.  
Arthur watched curiously as he picked up a branch from his feet.  
Then the end of the branch set alight, and he could see the corners of Merlins  
twitch up in a small smile.  
‘The end of the branch was on fire!’ Arthur blinked a few times, just to check that  
he was not imagining thins. Merlin had just lit the end of the branch without a  
flint and steel.  
Magic. Merlin was a sorcerer. Sweet foolish, clumsy Merlin had magic. He felt  
betrayed, like a sword had been pushed into his stomach by his friend. By his best  
friend.  
He decided not to confront Merlin, and just see what he did. He saw Merlins eyes  
flash gold again and his breath caught in his throat as he saw the flame burst into  
thousands of tiny embers and Arthur stumbled back in shock.  
Then he carefully crept back behind the large tree to continue watching. He saw  
Merlins eyes flash gold once more, and the sparks took the shape of a deer. The  
detail was exquisite, he could see every muscle rippling as the deer ran in circles  
through the air, then water flew up to meet it taking the shape of a doe, walking  
carefully through the air as well. The detail in her was just as beautiful as in the  
stag.  
Then they reformed into a pair of leopards, stalking each other, Arthur could almost  
hear them growling, it was really quite frightening.  
Then they pounced.  
As they flew through the air tho, they transformed into a pair of fluffy kittens,  
tumbling into a pile of fire and water fluff, pouncing on each other and chasing  
their tails. Arthur looked down at Merlin. This was just so him. He had a small  
smile on his lips, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Then he sighed, the water  
kitten jumped back into the river, and the fire kitten fizzled out.  
Merlins eyes grew gold once more and a small shimmering ball of shimmering blue  
light flew into the air, bathing the clearing in its gentility blue light. That  
shimmering light, Arthur realised, was the same as the one that had lead him to  
safety from deadly poisonous spiders in a dark ravine.This was the same light that  
had once saved Arthur’s life.  
Merlin sighed deeply and began to speak aloud to himself. “Oh Arthur.” He said sadly  
“I wish I could tell you. I really do, but I don’t want to put you in that  
position.” He sighed again, before continuing “Why does my life have to be so hard?  
The number of times I’ve saved you royal backside, and had to give the credit to  
luck... sometimes I feel like I might explode from the pain of seeing you trust me -  
no matter what you say, I know you do - and me having to lie to you. I hate it, but  
I can’t tell you, if you behead me, our destiny will never be fulfilled.” Merlin  
laughed at that. “Do you remember when you said I didn’t know what it was like to  
have a destiny. Think again my friend, think again - and all those times you said  
something like ‘what would you know about magic?’ - Well, you know, me being the  
most powerful warlock that ever has, and ever will walk the earth, quite a bit, I  
should hope.” Merlin laughed bitterly. “If only I could tell you about that every  
time you made some stupid comment about me being weak - or a coward - you know, I’m  
never afraid for myself, only that something will happen to you, and I won’t be able  
to save you...”  
Arthur had heard enough. He could tell from the depressed way Merlin was speaking to  
himself, apparently unaware that he was being watched, that he was not a threat,  
that he wanted to tell Arthur about his magic, but he didn’t want to put Arthur in  
that position. But Arthur was now in that position, whether he liked it or not,  
Merlin had magic, and he knew.  
He decided that now was as good as any time to confront Merlin about this, so he  
stepped out of the shadows and cleared his throat loudly. The second the sound  
escaped his lips, the beautiful ball of blue light was gone, and the clearing was  
pooled in darkness once more. Merlin span around “A-Arthur, what are you doing  
here?”  
“More to the point, Merlin, what are YOU doing out here?”  
“I - er - I - How much did you see?”  
“All of it.” Said Arthur, seeing no reason to deny it.  
Merlin turned very pale, “I - Arthur - I can explain...”  
“You already did, Merlin, don’t worry, I was upset at first, but now I understand  
why you didn’t say anything.” He went over and sat down on the log next to Merlin.  
“I didn’t want to make you chose, Arthur, between you friend and your duty”  
“I know, I overheard you, you were making quite the racket”  
“I-I’m sorry”, said Merlin again.


	4. 4

It was another Griffin. Of course it was. But unfortunately this time Arthur was  
with him, and he could not perform the spell he needed to without revealing himself  
as a powerful warlock.  
“Merlin, go get Sir Lancelot, he’s done this before”  
“No” said Merlin stubbornly. “I’m not leaving you alone with that beast.”  
“Merlin, I’ll be fine, really” said Arthur.  
“You weren’t last time.”  
“It’s different this time”  
“No”  
“Merlin, I am the king of Camelot, and if you want to keep your head, you’ll do what  
I say!” Arthur bellowed.  
Merlin looked frightened now - it wasn’t like Arthur to should at him like that.  
“Yes, Sire” said Merlin quietly, before turning his horse around to go and find Sir  
Lancelot, but before he could go five meters, the beast had knocked him from his  
horse, and was now standing over him, preparing to bite off his head.  
What was the spell he had used before? He couldn’t remember, his head was spinning,  
he couldn’t concentrate.  
Suddenly he felt the beast leave him and looked up to see Arthur, eyes fading from  
gold back to blue. Arthur had magic. How had he never noticed?  
“Arthur - are you any good at healing spells he called, my head is spinning” he  
called - tho he was disappointed that Arthur had not told him, it would be very  
hypocritical of him if he got too upset.  
“Your not mad at me for not telling you?” Asked arthur, confused, before going over  
to Merlin and placing his hands on his head, his eyes flashed gold, and Merlins head  
cleared.  
“Nope!” Merlin grinned, then he ran over to a spear that was rolling on the ground a  
few meters away and turned to the beast. He threw it hard and shouted the spell that  
he had bee trying to remember a moment before. Blue flames erupted around the spear  
just as it embedded itself into the heart of the griffin.  
Arthur just looked stunned. “Y-you have magic”  
“Yes. So do you.”  
“So does Lancelot”  
“He does?!?!”  
“He killed the Griffin before, remember?”  
At that Merlin burst out laughing - “y-you think that was LANCELOT?”  
“Who else would it be?”  
“Me!” Said Merlin indignantly.  
“Oh”  
“Lance knows about my magic, that is all. What spell did you use to heal my head? -  
I’ve always had a problem with those”  
“I didn’t use a spell, it just happened - I don’t know any spells, actually” Arthur  
looked quite embarrassed.  
“I suppose growing up with Uther as your dad can’t have been easy.”  
“No”  
“I can teach you, if you want... It is said that I am the most powerful warlock that  
ever has and ever will walk the earth, you know.”  
At that Arthur laughed - “You?!”  
Merlin sighed, looked up, and murmured a spell, his eyes flashed gold and  
immediately Arthur saw thick storm clouds rolling in, and Merlin pointed at the body  
of the dead griffin and muttered a word. Suddenly, lightning struck the exact point  
that Merlin had pointed at. Then he looked up and the storm clouds cleared, without  
a single word being said.  
Arthur just looked at him, stunned, “you weren’t joking, were you? You really are  
that powerful”  
“Yes, do you want me to teach you?”  
“Magic is against the law, if my father found out, you’d be burnt at the stake”  
“I’ve survived this long, haven’t I?”  
“I suppose... oh ok then, but only at night, and only in the forest away from  
patrols.”  
“Ok”


	5. 5

Arthur and Merlin were sitting at a desk in the library, Arthur was reading through  
and signing various documents while Merlin was preparing his speech for the council  
meeting in the morning.  
Arthur groaned in annoyance as the tip of his quill broke “Merlin, pass me another  
quill will you?”  
Merlin waved his hand and a quill flew from where he was sitting to Arthur. At this  
Arthur burst out laughing.  
“What?”  
“I don’t know why father was always so afraid of magic - all you can do is lift a  
quill!”  
Merlin was outraged - “all I can do is - I can do allot more than lift a bloody  
quill!”  
Arthur laughed even harder at this “what else can you do? - small biscuits?”  
“I killed high priestess Nimueh, I’ll have you know!”  
“Y-you did what - you killed?!” Arthur was no longer laughing now.  
“She threatened you, and she threatened Camelot.”  
“H-how? - she was high priestess!”  
“I called a storm and got lightning to strike her down and blast her into a billion  
tiny pieces.”  
Arthur’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ shape, then he said “I’ll finish these tomorrow, I  
need to think”  
“Ok”


	6. 6

Arthur was sat in his tent with Guinevere, when Sir Lancelot came in. “Sire, there  
is an army with an unknown seal approaching from behind.”  
Arthur grabbed his sword and ran out of the tent, but to his surprise the person  
next to the leader of this army, that was at least the same size as Camelot’s,  
raised a whit flag. “Sire! They want a truce!”  
Arthur had been so engrossed with watching the army, that he did not notice the  
messenger until he bowed deeply to Arthur and said “King Arthur of Camelot, Lord  
Emrys wishes to speak with you, he says that you may bring any men with you, so long  
as they are from the original council of the round table”  
“Thank you, tell your Lord Emrys that I will meet him - Elyan, Percival, with me.”  
Five minuets later Arthur and the knights were face to face with the army.  
“Lord Emrys, what is your purpose?”  
“Sire! No need to call me that - you have always known me by another name.” Said  
Merlin, removing his helmet and grinning. “You didn’t really think I would leave you  
to this battle alone, did you?”  
“Merlin?!?! Come on, come down to the camp, we can talk there.”  
“Yes sire” then Merlin leaned into the man next to him and whispered “give the order  
not to use magic until the battle.”  
The man nodded his head and turned around to give the order, and Merlin kicked his  
horse and caught up with Arthur.  
When they were back in Arthur’s tent, Arthur turned to Merlin. “Sharpen my sword and  
polish my armour ready for battle.” Arthur told Merlin.  
“Yes, sire.”  
Suddenly, the man that Merlin had spoken to earlier burst into the tent. He nodded  
in respect to Arthur, but he actually bowed to Merlin. “Lord Emrys, Morgana’s men  
have been spotted coming round fallen willow turn to attack the camp from behind.”  
Merlin immediately turned around to face him, his eyes flashed gold for a second,  
which Arthur did not see, before he responded. “There are around two hundred men.  
Gather a hundred of my men, and a hundred of Camelot’s - if that’s ok with Arthur,  
of course - “ he turned to Arthur who weakly nodded - what was going on, why was  
Merlin giving orders? “Thank you, - and take them round to defend our camp. You  
lead, keep our men in the front, and if you need any help, just call, I would come,  
but I feel it more likely that Morgana will wait till we’re weakened and then strike  
with the rest of her forces head on, I don’t want to leave the camp if Morgana could  
come from the other direction.”  
The other man just nodded “yes, my Lord.” Then he turned around and left the tent.  
Merlin turned back to Gwen and Arthur, who were just staring at him, mouths open.  
“Lord?”  
“Emrys?”  
“I can explain, but after the battle, when we have more time.” Then he turned around  
and went to sit in a corner and sharpen Arthur’s sword.”  
“What are you doing Merlin?”  
“Sharpening your sword and polishing your armour.”  
“You are a Lord, you have an army - why are you still acting like my servant?”  
“Because last time I checked, I still was.” Merlin turned around, careful to hide  
his eyes from Arthur and muttered a spell. He saw Morgana’s camp, he saw her,  
talking to Mordred. MORDRED. “Shit” muttered Merlin before turning around to face  
Arthur again. “Arthur, I need to call Kilgharrah, do you mind if I step outside for  
a moment?”  
“Not at all, who’s Kilgharrah?”  
“The great dragon.”  
“Wait - what?! How can you call a dragon? You said I killed it! Why would you call a  
dragon?”  
Merlin sighed “I’m the last dragon lord. I lied, you never killed him. And he will  
be very helpful in defeating Morgana and her army.”  
Arthur’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ shape as Merlin walked out of the tent. He quickly  
followed behind, wanting to see what happened. Merlin looked up to the sky and  
started shouting word in a strange language.  
A minuet later, the sky was filled with the sound of beating wings, Arthur looked up  
and saw the huge shape of a dragon flying down towards them, his hand out of  
instinct, jumped to his sword, but Merlin shook his head, and Arthur forced himself  
to relax as the dragon landed in front of them. It bowed to Merlin and then said  
“you called me?”  
“Yes, the battle of Camlann is upon us, you know what is destined to happen, unless  
we intervene, please find the Druid and kill him before it is too late, he was  
recently with Morgana.”  
“Of course.”  
“Thank you.”  
Merlin turned around and saw that Arthur, for the billionth time that day had his  
mouth open it shock, and was quite pale. “Are you ok, sire?” There was not the usual  
sarcasm in his voice when he addressed Arthur.  
Arthur just nodded. Merlin put a gentile hand on his shoulder and steered him into  
the tent where he sat him down and went to get him a nice hot bowl of chicken soup  
while he processed everything that had happened in the last hour.  
Morgana and her men attacked the next day.  
Merlin and Arthur lead there respective armies onto the battle field side by side,  
merlins army taking care of magical attacks as well as the regular ones - one young  
wizard turned a shower of arrows into a shower of daisies.  
Half an hour of battling later, Morgana’s army were defeated, leaving just the treat  
of the witch herself.  
“Where is Emrys?” She growled “give him to me.”  
“I am here” said Merlin calmly, stepping forward to face Morgana.


	7. 7

“What would you say if I told you I had magic?” Asked Merlin. He was lying on his  
back in a tent next to Arthur.  
“Why do you ask?”  
“Just curious”  
“I would throw you in the stocks for a year, of course” but Merlin could hear that  
he was joking.  
“Ha-ha what would you actually do?”  
“I don’t know - I probably wouldn’t believe you for starters, then if you did have  
magic, I don’t know, it’s my duty to report all sorcerers to my father, and you  
would have betrayed me by studying magic, but I don’t think I could bear to see you  
executed...” this time Merlin could tell he was telling the truth.  
“Your not a sorcerer, tho, are you.” It was not a question.  
“Ummm”  
“Your a sorcerer. Holy cow Merlin! What am I going to do now? - how could you do  
this to me? Choose to study magic? To do what? Take the throne?”  
“No, I’ve only ever protected you with it, and I didn’t choose to have it, I was  
born with it.” He said quietly.  
“That’s impossible.”  
“No. Just rare


	8. 8

Arthur was in a good mood. He’d just been on a hunt and he’d caught two deer, five  
rabbits and three pheasants. Such a good haul was almost unheard of.  
Merlin decided that he would take advantage of Arthur’s good mood to tell him about  
his magic. Maybe Arthur would be less harsh? Merlin quickly tidied Arthur’s room,  
lit a fire and filled a bath - maybe using a little magic to help heat the water...  
When Arthur walked in and saw his room ready for bed, he turned to Merlin and said  
“what do you want?”  
“Nothing, sire.” It was a lie, Merlin wanted to keep his head.  
“Merlin, you are a terrible servant, and now this? You definitely want something...”  
“Just to keep my head.”  
“Ha-ha” said arthur sarcastically “what do you actually want?”  
“To keep my head - I have a confession to make” then he added “after dinner” best  
not to make him angry on and empty stomach.  
“Right...”  
Arthur finished his dinner quickly and then turned to Merlin. “What is your  
confession?”  
“I-er I-um Ihavemagic.”  
“What? Y-you -“  
“Yes.” Said Merlin. Arthur could see the fear in his eyes , and the pain.  
“Prove it!”  
Merlin held out his hand and one of the apples in the bowl of fruit flew into his hand.  
“Oh. I suppose this means I should confess too.” He sounded resigned. Then he held  
out his hand, and a look of deep concentration crossed his face and the apple flew  
half way to his hand and then just stopped. Merlins mouth hung open.  
“You have magic too?!? What spell did you use just then - might I recommend -“ and  
then he said a word that Arthur couldn’t understand.  
“I didn’t use a spell, with my father being who he is, i couldn’t exactly just pop  
down to the library and borrow any old magic book, could I?” Then he repeated the  
word Merlin had said and the apple flew at him and hit him in the forehead. Merlin  
looked worried for a second, then seeing that the prince was ok, he burst out  
laughing.  
“Your powerful, you know that” he said, “if you can learn to control you magic, you  
will be a formidable enemy, even against a magic user!”  
“How do you know?” Scoffed Arthur “it’s not like you the worlds most power sorcerer”  
“Actually... it is said that I am the most powerful sorcerer that ever had and ever  
will walk the earth”  
This time it was Arthur who burst out laughing. “You? Powerful?”  
“I killed high priestess Nemuh by summoning lightening and blasting her into a  
billion tiny pieces. And I’m the last Dragonlord...”  
“Oh... will you teach me to control my magic, and spells?”  
“Of course, but best if we do it out of the castle or under it, and at night...”  
“Under it?”  
“There are passages” he said simply.  
“Another thing I don’t know about then.”


	9. 9

Arthur, a hand full of knights, and Merlin were on patrol. They were two days travel  
from Camelot when they had been surrounded by bandits. There were at least three of  
them to each knight, and they were large and strong, with maces and swords.  
They had quickly knocked out the knights, and as soon as Merlin was sure that the  
knights were unconscious (he had not let them get too badly hurt, of course) he  
jumped out from where he was hiding and had quickly used magic to dispose of the  
bandits. Merlin hated having to do it, but he didn’t really have much of a choice.  
Merlin luckily knew of a Druid camp not too far from where the bandits had attacked  
and was able to go to them for help. They had been unwilling at first to let the  
child of Uther to stay with them, but, Merlin, being Emrys had persuaded them that  
if it came to it he would wipe the stay from the minds of the knights, and that he  
would happily confiscate all there weapons. The Druids had grudgingly let them stay  
until they were conscious and healed after these promises, tho they were still  
unhappy.  
When Arthur and his men awoke, they were in a Tent, very unlike the ones they  
usually slept in. “What? Merlin where are we?”  
“You were knocked out by the bandits, remember? Your in a Druid camp, they agreed to  
let you stay until your healed... how are you, you’ve been knocked out for a couple  
of hours.”  
“Druids?! But they might have magic! They are probably completely corrupt!”  
“Arthur, the Druids are peaceful people, they are not corrupted, they are very nice,  
actually.”  
“You might have been enchanted, maybe that’s why your so calm” said Arthur narrowing  
his eyes.  
Merlin just raised one eyebrow, a move he had learnt from Guias.  
“How are the other knights?” asked Arthur, abandoning the idea, if they wanted him  
dead they didn’t have to save him, they could have just let him die.  
“They are not yet conscious, but they are healing.”  
“Ok” said Arthur “can I see them?”  
“Sure, if you feel up to it, there just next door.”  
Arthur and Merlin went next door to see the knights were also just coming round.  
“Where are we?” Asked Lancelot blearily.  
“We”re in a Druid camp” replied Arthur, “they’re letting us stay till we recover.  
Until then, we are there guests and will not disrespect them, however, magic is  
still against the law, and any is to be reported directly to me.”  
“What happened to the bandits?”  
“Yes, what did happen to the bandits, Merlin?” Asked Arthur.  
“They are dead”  
“How?”  
“Magic...”  
“WHAT?!?! Where is the sorcerer? They must be found at once!”  
“Arthur, they saved you life!” Shouted Merlin.  
“For all I know the only reason I was injured at all is due to them!” Arthur replied  
in and equally angry tone.  
“They outnumbered us three to one, and they were huge, it’s hardly the sorcerers  
fault we were beaten, it’s likely thanks to the sorcerer that we survived at all!”  
At this Arthur said quietly, “sorcery is against the law, Merlin, why are you  
defending them?”  
“Because they saved your life, and they don’t deserve to die because of it.”  
Arthur sighed, “your right, but if my father ever found out, I would be forced to  
hunt down and kill them no matter how many life’s they’ve saved.”  
“And why would your father need to find out?” Asked Merlin quietly.  
The knights had been watching this interaction with curiosity, as far as they knew,  
Merlin was the only one who stood up to the prince, and they enjoyed Arthur being  
given a good telling off. Only Lancelot realised the real reason for Merlins defence  
of the sorcerer, as he was the only one to realise that that sorcerer was almost  
certainly Merlin himself.  
The Druids were almost silent most of the time, but they always seemed to know what  
to do, and when, and they were often seen walking up to each other standing together  
for a while and then turning and getting on with there business, without a word  
passing between them. Arthur found this very puzzling, it was almost like they had a  
method of communication that did not require words. And the even stranger part was,  
that Merlin seemed to be in on it, no matter how discreet he tried to be, Arthur had  
seen him having more than one silent conversation.  
“Merlin, can I have a word?”  
“Sure - what about?”  
“You seem to be in on the Druids secret method of communication.”  
“It’s not really a secret that they communicate without words, sire.” Said merlin,  
but he had turned a shade paler.  
“Can you let me in on the secret, or teach me the secret?” Asked Arthur, eyes  
narrowing.  
“It’s not really something that can be taught, sire, I’m sorry.” Then he turned a  
shade paler again and ran out of the tent, and Arthur followed curiously. What he  
saw was what looked like the whole camp in a semi circle, facing three hooded  
figures. The first spoke.  
“We come for the prince, give him to us and you shall not be harmed.  
The Druids shuffled from foot to foot nervously, but, to there credit, they did not  
speak.  
“Suddenly the man shouted some words at the Druids and a fireball flew from his  
hand. Sorcery. Luckily, the Druids all managed to avoid being hit, but they quickly  
ran back into their tents, away from the sorcerers, leaving just Arthur and the  
knights out to face them.  
The sorcerer in the centre smirked, “Arthur Pendragon, you will pay for the crimes  
you have committed against our kind.”  
“You are forgetting that he is protected.” Said Merlin smoothly, stepping forward.  
At this the sorcerer just laughed. “What are you going to do about it, servant boy?”  
“Merlin get back!” Said Arthur urgently, but Merlin just ignored him.  
“Servant boy I may be, but Emrys I am also.” Said Merlin with a sly grin.  
“E-Emrys? Prove it!”  
Merlin just sighed, cupped his hand and murmured something. His eyes flashed gold  
for a second, and when he opened his hands a butterfly flew out.  
Arthur nearly burst out laughing - a butterfly! It was just so Merlin - Merlin!  
Merlin was a sorcerer! How?  
The sorcerers on the other hand just gasped and then, they slowly dropped to there  
knees and the front one just looked up ever so slightly and said “Emrys, I-I am so  
sorry, he has wronged our kind, I did not think you would support him.”  
“Yes, well” said Merlin dismissively “I know thing that you don’t, and I know  
Arthur’s destiny, better than him, even, and I know my part in that destiny, to  
serve him, to protect him, and to guide him.”  
“What is our punishment, Lord Emrys? We will accept it, without argument.”  
“That is for Arthur to decide, he is the one you tried to kill, after all.”  
They all turned to Arthur, who hid his utter confusion and internal panic behind a  
calm, stony glare. “Attempting to kill me was treason, and so is the practice of  
sorcery, for that, you should be burnt at the stake, however, I feel that you have  
learnt you lesson.” He turned to Merlin with a questioning look in his eyes,  
wondering if he was doing the right thing. Merlin gave a small nod, so he continued.  
“So, I will give you a lighter sentence. You are to be banished from Camelot. If you  
are seen here again, you will be killed.”  
“Thank you, sire, we accept your punishment.” Said the second, they then stood up,  
Merlins eyes flashed gold and they were gone.  
As soon as they were gone, everyone turned to stare at Merlin.  
“Emrys?”  
“Your a sorcerer?”  
“LORD?”  
“How did they recognise you?”  
“You and Arthur’s destiny?”  
“Why were they scared of you?”  
Merlin sighed. “It is prophesied that the once and future King, that’s Arthur, will  
one day be the high king of all Albion, and that Emrys will guid him, and that he  
will bring magic back, and that it will be a golden age for all. Emrys is a  
sorcerer, and as I am Emrys I am a sorcerer. Lord because the Druids consider Emrys  
to be there saviour - trust me, I never asked for that title. And they were afraid  
of me because it is said that I am the most powerful warlock that ever has or ever  
will walk the earth, and that I’m immortal - admittedly not a theory I’ve wanted to  
test...”  
Arthur and the knights were looking at him with awe and fear.  
“Oh, and I’m also the last dragon lord”  
“You are aware that everything you’ve just said is treason” said Arthur.  
“Yes, but I trust you, and I think that you deserve the truth... besides, I’ve saved  
your sorry backside more times than I’m able to count.”  
“Tell us everything, from the beginning.” And so he did.


	10. 10

Sir Leon knew about Merlin’s magic. He had figured it out when he saw Merlin’s eyes  
flash gold and a branch fall on an enemy. He had realised that there insane luck was  
not luck, and that Merlin was and had been watching there backs, and he had decided  
to watch his back, and make sure that no one found out about his magic.  
Sir Gwaine knew about Merlin’s magic. He had figured it out when he had first met  
Merlin and had seen him throwing plates across the room with magic. He had traveled  
enough to see that Merlin was not a threat to Camelot and that magic was not evil.  
He decided to help protect him and stop him from being found out.  
Sir Lancelot knew about Merlin’s magic. He had found out when Merlin had used it to  
make blue flames erupt around his lance so that he could kill the gryphon. He had  
seen enough of the world to know that magic was not inherently evil, and as Merlin  
had just saved his life, he agreed not to tell anyone.  
And on it went. Each of the knights had found out in there own way, each privately  
deciding to protect Merlin. Merlin first found out that they knew when he had been  
travelling with them as they were doing a task for the king. They had been attacked  
by a pair of sorcerers and Gwaine had yelled at Merlin that they all knew he had  
magic apart from Arthur, who wasn’t there, and he had asked him if he could defeat  
the sorcerers and Merlin, of corse, had done so. He had been very great full to the  
knights for keeping his secret.  
Since then, he had snuck out with the knights under the pretext of collecting herbs  
for Guias, and they had gone to a discrete clearing and practiced together so that  
if the situation arose, they would be able to work with Merlin as well as they  
worked together. They had collectively decided against telling Arthur of his magic  
despite the fact that when he inevitably did find out he would be furious, but none  
of them had wanted to put him on a situation where he had to chose between his  
friend and his duty.  
Inevitably a threat did come. However, they had not expected it to come when Arthur  
was not there, or when Merlin was actually gathering herbs for Guias.  
Arthur had given the knights the day off and they had decided to go hunting. Merlin  
was out gathering pond butter for Guias. And Arthur was looking for his useless  
manservant. Guias had told him Merlin was out gathering pond butter and would likely  
be found by one of the three ponds in the forest.  
Arthur had gone out in search of Merlin, as he required his assistance in preparing  
his ceremonial robes for the royal visit tomorrow, and his armour needed polishing,  
and his room needed cleaning, and the stables needed mucking out. As he rode into  
the woods, he soon picked up on the sound of fighting, it sounded like his knights,  
but it didn’t sound like they were fighting each other or anyone else - a magical  
creature or creatures maybe? He quickly turned his horse towards the sound and urged  
it into a gallop - he may not have his armour, but he might still be able to help.  
As he got closer he was able to see that they were fighting a large number of  
spieps, which were a horrible combination of wasps and spiders, however, it was  
clear that the knights were winning, so he decided to hang back and watch how his  
knights fought, which was not something he was usually able to do, as he was always  
fighting with them in real battles.   
As he watched them, he noticed that Merlin was with them - he didn’t seem to be in  
trouble, so he just continued to watch. Lancelot swung for a spiep, and as he  
impaled it, another came at him from behind, which was rapidly dissected bu Gwain.  
Arthur had never seen anyone work so well together, it was like they could  
anticipate each other’s every move, and acted accordingly. Even Merlin, seemed to be  
a part of this team, tho Arthur could see he didn’t have a sword. Suddenly, Sir Leon  
got surrounded.  
“Merlin!” He shouted.  
“On it!”  
Arthur was confused by this - how could Merlin help? He watched as Merlin ducked  
under the swing of Lancelot’s sword before reaching out his hand, and his eyes  
turning a molten gold. Then the spieps around Leon dropped to the ground.  
“Thanks!”  
“No problem.”  
Slowly, it dawned on Arthur what he had just seen. Merlin had used magic. And Sir  
Leon had thanked him for it. Sir Leon knew, and he could only guess that the other  
knights also knew.  
It took the team only another three minutes to kill all the spieps, as they were so  
ridiculously in tune with one another, and worked so well as a team. A team in which  
Merlin was a part. Arthur had watched him closely throughout the fight, and he had  
killed another dozen spieps, he had also saved Sir Elyan from a sting by a well  
placed falling branch.  
After they were finished, Sir Mordred turned to Merlin. “Is that all of them?”  
Merlins eyes flashed gold again before he replied with a swift “Yes.”  
“I so wish we could tell Arthur.” Said Sir Percival.  
“Yes, but we don’t want to put him in a position where he has to chooses between  
Merlin and his duty.”  
“It still feels wrong, living to him like this.”  
“Yes, and you saving out asses every five minuets and never getting any credit.”  
“You know that’s not why I do it - Arthur’s my friend.”  
“I just hope that when he does eventually find out he will see that you’ve never  
done anything to hurt him.”  
“I did once rip him off at gambling once, but yes, I hope he isn’t too upset that  
we’ve kept this from him either.”  
Arthur listened to this conversation with curiosity. They all knew about Merlin’s  
magic, and they had not told him. However, he saw that they only wanted to keep him  
from having to make a difficult decision. Which he now had to make. He sighed, and  
decided to just confront them now. He was the king anyway, they had to tell him.  
“I am upset that you’ve kept this from me. However, I do see why you did not tell  
me.” He said in his most regal voice. “However, I cannot be to upset with you after  
that amazing fight. The way you worked together as a team is something I’m sure even  
the Romans would be proud of. And Merlin. What are we going to to with you, a? I  
suppose this proves that magic is not inherently evil, which is something I’ve been  
wondering about for a while. Which means, I suppose, that my only remaining option  
is to repeal the ban on magic and make you court sorcerer.”  
They all just gaped at him, wondering where the hell he had just appeared from, and  
why he was not mad at them.


End file.
